Tag Archives: Jeff Goins

Sunday was a perfect day! One of those days filled with faith, friends and family, I couldn’t have asked for more.

Started off at Church. The church I attend is filled with good people, people who love each other and are committed to their walk with God.

I saw some great friends, heard amazing music, was touched by unplanned testimony from my friend Carla and enjoyed a sermon of faith and promise from Pastor Adam.

After Church I traveled to Helen, GA to visit with friends who were visiting from Florida. It is always good to spend time with my friends and to be able to see how their children have grown since I left Florida was amazing.

One of their daughters is my special friend Sophia, a sweet, spirit filled child who embraces her life challenges and overcomes with joy.

We went to a zip-line course and the kids and dads sped through the woods attached by tether to the lines. We had some concerns about Sophia’s ability to do the course, but she embraced the zip line and giggled with glee as she traversed the course.

As Sophia finished the first line, we knew it would all be OK, as she shouted with glee…. “I came in like a wrecking ball!”

After the dads and kids had finished the course, it was fun to just sit and talk with them all. We laughed, reminisced and enjoyed each other’s company.

As I come up to my three-year anniversary of moving away from Florida, it is always good to see my friends and catch up.

After a quick trip back to town, I met up with the family for Sunday Supper…. a special dinner for my sister-in-law, Donna’s birthday.

As usual our time together was filled with laughs, reminiscing and total joy as our 3-year-old princess kept us entertained.

We missed having Zach, Brett and Jade with us, but know there will be other times when we can all be together.

It’s days like Sunday that make me realize just how fortunate I am. My life may not be complete, but with faith, family and friends, I can’t really complain about the things I am missing.

I love my life and I love the people who make each day a blessing. It was a good day!

As the night grew to an end, Sam and Donna both mentioned that I haven’t been writing. I actually have been, and completed the 500 Word, Jeff Goins writing challenge, I just haven’t been sharing all my words here. I’ll work on that as I know the words I put here on my computer screen are another blessing I was given in this life.

Today’s song is for my friend Sophia…. Wrecking Ball. Keep knocking down those obstacles sweet girl, you are a blessing to everyone who knows you!

Today’s assignment for the Jeff Goins, 500 Words for 31 Days Challenge is to write a confession.

I don’t feel like writing a confession. I don’t fee like writing 500 words. I feel helpless, confused and angry that once again, kids went to school yesterday and they didn’t come home to their parents at the end of the day.

Day 20 of the Jeff Goins – 500 Words, 31 Days Writing Challenge…. Write about Justice.

Dr. Seuss put it succinctly, Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.

I often ponder on how we as a society have gotten to the point we are. It seems as though our compassion for our fellow-man often falls behind political debate and the party lines that used to help us find compromise, today only hardens our convictions.

At what point did we get to the strident beliefs that our fellow-man is not of value, when did we get to the point where we believed that our convictions are move important than that of our neighbor and at what point did we decided it is going to be “my way, or no way?”

Day after day we see the debates that confront us all, divide us. I once heard a pastor say, if we would concentrate on the 90% that we agree on, the other 10% could fall into place.

I’m not Pollyanna enough to believe that we will ever come to a point where we all agree on everything, our differences are what has made us great as a nation. But those differences used to be celebrated, today the division that is created threatens our society in ways that outside threats cannot.

As American’s we are good at coming together when life’s challenges threaten us. We help our fellow-man when floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, tragedy strikes, but within days we let our differences harden our actions and go back to the win at all costs mentality that has gotten us to where we are.

Here are a few truths that I stand by with conviction and resolve:

We are stronger together than we are separately.

America is the greatest nation ever to grace the planet.

Only America can destroy America.

We are all Americans, there is no place in America for hyphenated Americans.

I am not guilty for the sins of my forefathers, nor is your life affected by those same sins.

We have all had leaders we didn’t vote for, however those same leaders were elected and the OFFICE they represent always deserves respect.

If my leaders lie to me once, they will lie again and again.

America is a guiding light, we have our problems, but together there is nothing we cannot overcome.

Leaders must hold a higher standard morally and ethically and their actions must always represent that higher calling.

I believe in the melting pot of America that has served us well for over 200 years, we have our problems, but we are a resilient nation. The only way to cure the ills that affect us today and into our future is to start acting like Americans.

I fear, for many of us, the standards we were built upon have been forgotten. You are entitled to help when you need it, you aren’t entitled to anything if you don’t give 100% towards the betterment of our society.

Unless your Ancestry.com report says you are 100% native American, you and your ancestors were immigrants. Immigrants built this nation and walls, fences and waters should never keep them out. However, immigrants must assimilate to our nation’s ideals and cultures, and you must follow the rules to be here.

No one is entitled to be an American and if you don’t like the way our nation is headed, then change it, lawfully with ideals that can help make us stronger, not tear us apart.

I pray for our nation and hope that we will once again start acting like Americans, the land of the free, the home of the brave.

Whether you are black, white, straight, gay, old, young or any other subset of the American dream, it is your responsibility to help move us forward in ways that honor the forefathers who built this shining city on a hill.

When my pen touches the paper, the magic that happens is beyond my wildest dreams.

The figures that I have created for over fifty years have made me famous beyond my imagination and allowed me to bring the simplistic voice of a child to the world’s forefront.

It is hard for me to believe that a simple idea so many years ago would become something that the world identifies with. From a simple newspaper feature, my cartoons have become television shows, movies, stuffed animals, books, characters in theme parks, on every street Halloween night and even traveling ice shows. These characters that formed in my mind and came to life on paper have allowed me to express a viewpoint to the world.

I’m no great artist, I know that, but what I am is a man who is able to express an opinion through the eyes of a clumsy young boy who relates more to his dog than he does his friends.

This boy, his dog and group of misfit friends have given me wealth and fame, but more than that, they have taught me the joys of a simple message, a message that is quoted and shared by parents with their children and children with their children; they have allowed me to share my views with a world that more often than not just needs a little joy with their morning paper.

When my characters were given a voice and color was added to their world, they came to life and now just the sound of a childlike voice takes my fans to a place where everything is made possible in just a few frames of newsprint.

I started sharing my drawn family with the world in 1950, it was a much simpler time then and as the world has changed, my kids have stayed the same.

Although they are now fifty years old, they haven’t aged a day, they are still the same rotund group of feitsy, nerdy, hard to understand, shy, lyrical, gullible characters they were the day they debuted to the world.

If I had known the world was going to fall in love with them, I may have changed some things, but as I look back on it now, I know they are perfect in all their imperfections.

I love these kids like they are my own family, because if I am truthful, they have become members of my family. Like those who take time to visit with them every day, you can find members of your own family and situations from your own life in the lives of these kids who visit you.

Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, Sally, Peppermint Patty, Woodstock, Snoopy and Charlie Brown have become cultural icons because of their single focus of bringing good to the world.

On this date in 2000, the last original “Peanuts” comic appeared in your newspapers bringing to an end the stories of these kids who made my life so special. That last original comic, was brought to you the day after I passed away at the age of 77.

I am Charles M. Schulz and I am the cartoonist who brought you Peanuts. I am also the “voice” of today’s Jeff Goins, 500 Word Challenge your author chose to use in his assignment “write in someone else’s voice.”

Day 18 of the Jeff Goins, 500 Words A Day Writing Challenge…. Write About Waiting.

Patience is not one of my virtues, I have a hard time waiting. I like instant gratification and am not good at the long haul, if I don’t find quick success I tend to move on.

I have been lucky most of my life, I have been able to muddle through and find success in most things I have tried to accomplish.

However, when it comes to the long road, the long haul, I’m just not very good at it. I get bored easily and look for an easy out.

For the purposes of today’s post, I thought I would talk a bit about an area that I am doing well in waiting….. my business.

Since I opened Impressed almost two years ago, we have had relative success. The community that we serve has been incredibly generous and I appreciate the support.

I have been fortunate to put together an awesome team that works hard, has fun and produces exemplary work. We have our stumbles, but for the most part we do it right.

As we have done well with our store, my patience is constantly tested waiting for our website to take off. I have set goals for impressedstyle.com that would increase our yearly sales dramatically.

The website challenges have tested my ability to wait, but I know that if we keep plugging away it will come. I envision the website allowing us to grow the company and send our designs throughout the country and globe, I keep telling myself we just have to find that one design that will take off and it will then help the site to grow and succeed.

It just seems as though we are waiting and waiting for this to happen. We keep putting out awesome designs and marketing them, but to date, we just haven’t found that one to turn the corner.

My dream is for Impressed and impressedstyle.com to be a major employer and manufacturer in our community, getting to that point tests my ability to wait.

I have faith that it will happen, the day will come when people will be sporting shirts and designs manufactured in little Clayton, GA throughout the country. That’s a dream worth waiting for, putting our shop on the map and proving that all of our hard work was worth it.

We will continue to serve our local customers with designs for all their needs and the thrill of knowing “we made that” when I see someone walking down the street will never pass.

It’s a fun business, one that allows me to use my creative abilities as an outlet that others enjoy. Working with great people, creating good work and having fun is important, it’s the waiting that I have issues with.

When that day comes we will be ready, we have put in the efforts, we have proven that we can do it and as we grow the business and see our goals met, the waiting will all be worth it.